Little Falls transcript., 1887-06-10
/. RM MANAGEMENT 7.
Late Crops that Can Be Advan-
tageously Raised to Take, I:
s< the Place of Hay. ~
Farmers Should Take the Management Of
County Fairs Into Their Own Hands.
In View of a Drought.

County Fairs Into Their Own Hands.
In View of a Drought.
From present appearances the crop
IT hay in the northwestern states and
territories will be very light In re-
| spect to maturity grass and red clover
| are fully two weeks further advanced
| than they ordinarily are at this tine
Still in most fields they are but q few
inches in height. Grass is no taller in
most moving fields and natural
meadows than it generally is in past
ures at this season of the year. Trees,
shrubs, and most kinds of Towering
plants blossomed fully two weeks be-
fore the ordinary time. The only good
quality Of grass is found on low land,
which iS1brdinarily too wet to be plow-
I'd. Clover and timothy on hi ghly-
:nanured land present Il healthy ap-
pearance, but are short. Even with
heavy rains within the next few days
the crop will be small. Apparently
haying must commence two weeks
earlier than usual if red clover, timothy,
and other cultivated grasses are cut as
soon as they are in full blossom. On
few farms will they furnish fodder
enough to keep the stock over the
winter. Should abundant rains occur
soon after haying, q second crop may
be cut in fields where the soil is rich
and retentive of moisture. But the
season is too far advanced and too un-
favorable to afford much promise of a
good crop of hay.
Seasons that are unfavorable to the
growth of grass and clover are also un-
favorable to q large growth Of grain
straw and to the foliage of cornstalks.
From present appearances the straw of
grain sown last fall or early in the
spring will be short. Farmers located
longing to non-residents may be able
to obtain all they need for keeping their
stock, as generally much can be cut on
low lands. Farmers who live where
most of the land is under cultivation
will be most likely short of fodder, as
they generally keep as much stock as
they can provide food for during favor
able seasons. They should lose no time
! in preparing to put in seed that will
produce crops that can be used as SUBJ
stitutes for common hay. Those who
have silos or are so situated that they
| can construct them will find no diff
Guilty in raising fodder corn for filling
them. If not planted till the middle Of
June, stalks of corn sufficiently large
to be converted into ensi.age can be
raised before there is danger of frost
The silo enables a farmer to winter a
large amount of stock through a scarci-
ty of rain causes the yield of grass and
clover to be very small.
Farmers who have no silos and are
not so situated that they can construct
'hom can raise corn for fodder and
preserve it by drying. Sweet corn is
preferable to any kind Of field corn, as
it produces a much larger proportion
of foliage, while the stalks contain so
lunch saccharine matter that they are
| readily eaten by most kinds of stock.
Many who wish to raise either sweet or
common field corn for fodder SOW the
| scecl broadcast, cover it with a harrow
o. cultivator, and cut it with moving
machine or grain-harvester. This plan
saves much work. and many claim that
the yield is largest when the crop is
raised in this way. 1t is admitted,
however, that the crop is inferior.
The stalks are small and tender and
the foliage is abundant, but, as they
grow in the shade they are lacking in
green color an! in sweetness. Those
who have FED out fodder corn rails
ed by sowing the seed broadcast are
generally dissatisfied with the results.
They report that animals soon tire of
it, and that they grow but very little if
allowed no other kind of food. Fodder
corn raised in drills and cultivated is
of much better quality. Its foliage is
green and the stalks are much sweeter
1t is preferred by animals, who appear
to be the best judges of the value of
stock food.
Several sheep~raisers in Kansas have
reported favorably on sorghum as a
fodder plant. They recommend drill
ing in the seed at the rate of about a
peck to the acre. They cut it with
machine and put it in shocks like corn
stalks. One Kansas wool grower states
that the sorghum raised on one acre
will keep twenty sheep through the win
ter. He cuts up and puts in shock
half the crop for feeding during bad
weather, but allows the sheep to eat
the rest from the hill when the weather
is favorable. Sorghum plants, when
! once started, have the ability to with
stand droughts better than almost any
plant raised for fodder. The crop
however, is better adapted to the soil
and climate of Kansas than to that of
most OF the northwestern states and
territories. The small amount of snow
there allows of its being eaten in the
field where it grew. 1t is obviously
more valuable for sheep than for horses
and cattle. as they can eat the seed
without injury. In part of the coun-
try where the winters are mild, stock
hogs can run in the field, where they
will eat the seed Of sorghum and most
of the leaves and stalks. In states fur
ther north the stocks will be frozen
during the winter if they were not cov-
cred with snow and ice. As a conse-
quence, they would be of little value to
any animal if they we're not well pro-
tected.
Everything considered, the variey OF
millet popularly known as Hungarian
grass is the most valuable crop that can
be raised in most of the western states
as substitute for common hay. 1t is
a hot-weather plant and should not be
sown till the air and soil are warm.
Sown early in the season, the plant be-
comes stunted and never makes good
growth. It grows very rapidly and
withstands protracted droughts re-